Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8

At a developer conference earlier today, Microsoft officially unveiled Windows Phone 8, the next-generation of the Windows Phone platform. The update, which will be available sometime this holiday season and is codenamed “Apollo,”б═will bring support for multi-core smartphones, higher-resolution displays, and near field communication (NFC) technology.

The most major change coming with Windows Phone 8 is that the mobile platform will now share the same code as Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 desktop OS. Previously, mobile versions of Windows were based onб═Windows CE, an older version of Windows Mobile. This change means that developers who already have Windows 8 apps coded with Metro will be able to easily port them to the mobile side of Windows. On the other hand, any current Windows Phones will become essentially obsolete since the newer apps won’t be able to run on them.

Windows Phone 8 also brings:

Support for microSD cards

Nokia Maps technology

Live tiles on the home screen have been overhauled for more customizability and functionality